CHAPTER VI. 



THE next morning, after marching some three or 

 four miles up the Simla road, I turned off east- 

 wards, and, fording a considerable stream, took 

 possession of the Gya Nalah. Some two or three 

 miles up, this valley divides into two branches, 

 which run almost parallel to one another, and are 

 known by the names of Kayma and Tubbuh. I 

 proceeded up the former branch, which is a typical 

 Ladakhi valley. On either side are hills of many- 

 coloured gravel and shale that rise to a height of 

 some two or three thousand feet above the stream ; 

 they are generally rounded in outline, but are 

 occasionally broken by steep, rocky ground and 

 precipices. These rise gradually to the snowy 

 ranges behind them, the snow-line at the time that 

 I was in Gya being at some 18,000 feet (the 

 perpetual snow-line here is about 20,000). In the 

 middle of this valley, which is here about half a 

 mile across, flows a fair-sized stream, the water of 

 which, as is usual in mountain torrents, in the early 

 morning, and while the snows above are still frozen, 



was clear and good, but towards evening increased 



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